Engineers
|build_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Construction Wall Crusher }} Engineers is the name of a Normal Unit Archetype. It is a template defining the baseline attributes and abilities of 6 Normal Units, all of which are called "Engineers". Each of these units is a variant of the basic Engineers archetype, and is produced by a different Race. The archetype is discussed in this article, and each variant has its own, separate page. Engineers may be built by the High Men, Klackons, Orcs, Beastmen, Draconians * and Dwarves. Access to Engineers is of high importance to most empires, and thus races that cannot produce Engineers will likely try to acquire them by other means. Engineers are responsible primarily for constructing Roads across an empire. Roads speed up travel times, allowing armies to quickly cross the land when necessary. Engineers can also be used in combat to bring down enemy City Walls. Unfortunately, Engineers are too fragile for any kind of real combat. Description Any expanding empire will soon run into problems concerning its size: travel between different Towns can take a long time, especially across rough terrain, and thus prevents the army from adequately protecting the entire territory. Production centers gradually become more distant from the advancing frontier, meaning that units may take many turns to get to where they are needed. The best way to solve this problem is through the construction of Roads, and that is the unique task of the Engineers. Engineers carry a variety of tools for their work. They must flatten the terrain, clear it of any obstacles, and occasionally dig through solid rock. This takes a lot of know-how which simply isn't available to any other unit. Thus, empires that have access to Engineers will want to recruit them sooner rather than later. Empires that don't have access to Engineers will want to get that access - whether by conquering nearby Races that can build such units or by hiring Engineer Mercenaries. The same principles that allow Engineers to create roads can also be used offensively, such as when besieging a city surrounded by City Walls. Engineers can use their digging tools and expertise to collapse the walls, forming a breach for other units. Of course, Engineers themselves are not trained for combat, and lack both the armor and weapons to engage enemies with any favourable results. Baseline Properties The following section describe only the "baseline" properties of the Engineers archetype. Most of the actual units produced will have innate racial bonuses that deviate from this baseline template. Read the section on racial variants below for more information. Attributes and Abilities To produce Engineers, a town must have a Builders' Hall. The baseline production cost is per unit. Once under your employ, a unit of Engineers requires an Upkeep Cost of and each turn. A unit of Engineers contains by default. It may never have more than 6 figures. Engineers carry only basic weapons and armor. Their Melee Attack strength is , and their Defense score is only , easily making them some of the least combat-worthy units in the game. Their Resistance score is also very low, at , meaning that most ill effects will have no trouble harming them. Engineers can be used to construct Roads, and this is their primary purpose. The unit can be ordered to "Build" a road in any land tile, a process that takes a few turns (but can be sped up by having several Engineers build a road in the same tile simultaneously). Once the Road is completed in a tile, the cost of entering that tile changes to 0.5 for all units. On Myrror, the road is immediately Enchanted, allowing most units to enter it at no Movement Cost whatsoever! Furthermore, during combat, Engineers can use their Wall Crusher ability to directly target and attack City Wall sections, and have a 50% chance of knocking the targeted section down. This allows units to move through the hole freely, circumventing the enemy's defenses. Again, remember that Engineers are fragile, and should only be brought into combat if there is no other option. Basic Tactics : Due to their poor combat performance, Engineers should never be used in combat if not absolutely necessary. They are too valuable to waste, especially for races that cannot create their own Engineers. When encountering an enemy town surrounded by City Walls, it is possible to bring in Engineers to make holes in the wall and allow your units to enter through that hole. This is normally preferable to trying to go in through the main gate - which is usually guarded. If at all possible, try to breach the wall at a section which is not guarded by enemy units. Expect your Engineers to die during the attempt, whether by enemy Ranged Attacks or during the attack on the wall itself. Catapults and other Wall Crusher units are almost always preferable. The main asset of Engineers, however, is their ability to construct Roads connecting your Towns. Engineers can be grouped together and enhanced with spells to improve the speed of route construction. Roads improve your towns' economies and allow your armies to travel quickly from one side of the empire to the other, responding to sudden threats in a timely manner or reaching the front lines quicker. :For further information about road construction, see Construction (Unit Ability). Variants Only 6 different Races have access to their own Engineers units, which gives these races an edge in empire-building. Each Race produces a different type of Engineers unit, which not only looks different but may also have different properties compared to the "baseline" template described above. List of Variants High Men Engineers :Identical to baseline template (see above). Klackon Engineers :Like all other Klackon units, Klackon Engineers are significantly more expensive than the baseline template. Fortunately, Klackons also have better rates than other races, but not enough to come out even. :Klackon Engineers are also a little more expensive to maintain, and are a little more than other Engineers, but not to a degree that would make them inherently more useful. :In short, like all other Klackon units, their main distinction is that they are overpriced - but the Klackon race has many other strategic benefits to offset this. Orc Engineers :Identical to baseline template (see above). Beastmen Engineers :Beastmen Engineers are somewhat more suitable for combat than other Engineers, though not by a very wide margin. They have strength, per figure, and , which gives them both a stronger attack and better survivability. This still does not make them a true combat unit, but they can more easily afford to enter combat, especially for purposes of bringing down enemy City Walls. :Beastmen Engineers are 50% more expensive to produce than baseline Engineers. They also have a higher Upkeep Cost. Draconian Engineers * (NA in version 1.31) :Draconian Engineers have many racial advantages, making them some of the best Engineers available. Their biggest advantage is their ability and speed, which allows them to easily cross the terrain on which they intend to build their Roads. A large stack of Draconian Engineers can easily construct very long roads within only a few turns. :Furthermore, Draconian Engineers are much more durable in combat thanks to higher and scores, and have better performance on the attack thanks to their racial Fire Breath 1 ability. This doesn't make them excellent troops, but they might be able to hold their own in battle. :Of course this does not come without a price: Draconian Engineers are the most expensive of all Engineers, costing +150% more to create. This means that a Draconian empire will take longer to produce a large group of these. Upkeep Costs are also slightly higher compared to the baseline. Dwarf Engineers :Dwarf Engineers are often considered to be the best Engineers available in the game, for one important reason: they take half as long to complete any Road section compared to other Engineers. With sufficient numbers, they can quickly create an entire network of Roads throughout the empire, regardless of Terrain. :Dwarf Engineers are also extremely to magic, and can take a lot of damage thanks to very high per figure. They'll last longer in combat, but are still not very powerful on the attack. :Dwarf Engineers do not cost more to create than other Engineers, which is terrific because Dwarves have higher output. This means that it is possible to create large groups of Dwarf Engineers very early on. :Finally, Dwarf Engineers possess the Mountaineer ability, which theoretically should speed up their movement through Mountains and Hills. In practice however, this ability has little effect due to their slow default movement speed. Category:Normal Units Category:Normal Unit Archetypes Category:Engineers